Rush to judgement.
Via Law Officer:
A New Jersey mayor and his city’s police union are clashing publically over whether a newly released video shows quick-thinking police officers or an example of police brutality.
The dramatic video shows Jersey City police officers approaching a crash victim with their guns drawn. The victim, identified as Miguel Feliz, rolled from the crash with at least one item of clothes on fire.
Questions were raised about what could be seen once officers reached Feliz. There are allegations that the police officers were kicking Feliz, and then dragging him into the streets.
The Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association, denied those allegations, saying the officers were trying to put out the flames and get the man to safety.
“Taking swift action isn’t always elegant, but this video clearly shows that the officers acted quickly to extinguish the flames, and pull this man out of harm’s way,” Carmine Disbrow, the union president, said in a statement Wednesday.
Stephen Fulop, the city’s mayor, however, has called for the terminiation of any officer who appeared in a video.
A spokeswoman from his office told The Wall Street Journal that once the officers in the video are identified, his office will seek their termination and pursue possible criminal charges.